[TowerTalk] Temporary guys

[Grant Saviers]

Nylon 3 strand will elongate about 50% before breakage.  That property 
is great for anchoring or towing but awful for guying or lifting.  The 
energy that can be stored in a piece of nylon rope is impressive and 
some very nasty accidents have happened since nylon rope also makes a 
very good saw when it relaxes from breaking.

Because sailboat racers want no stretch lines for halyards and sheets, 
several low/no (some even less then 7x19 wire rope) stretch rope 
materials are now available, at reasonable to astronomic prices.  New 
England Ropes StaSet polyester braid in 7/16" diameter is my favorite 
for gin poles, lifting, rigging, block and tackle work, etc.  A moderate 
price, easy handling and knots, very durable, fairly low stretch (4% at 
30% of breaking strength).  see  
http://www.neropes.com/Datasheets/MAR_STASET.pdf

Most marine chandlers carry it, e.g. West Marine.  Also, on ebay.

Grant KZ1W

On 3/30/2011 3:13 PM, john at kk9a.com wrote:
> I am curious how temporary guys could stretch so much to lay a tower on its
> side, perhaps the guy anchors were very far away?   The Trucker's Hitch is
> great advice, I have used this knot to for securing tower or reels of
> hardline when transporting them home.
>
> John KK9A
>
>
>
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Temporary guys
> From: K7LXC at aol.com
> Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2011 14:33:09 EDT
> List-post:<towertalk at contesting.com">mailto:towertalk at contesting.com>
>
> Howdy, TowerTalkians --
>
>      I just read a portion of the ARRL tower book where  the author recounts
> an episode where the temporary rope guys holding the bottom  sections of
> the tower stretched so much that he found himself laying on the  ground with
> the tower laying on top of him. Similarly, W2GD had the same  thing happen
> to
> him. In neither case was the climber terribly injured but they  were lucky
> to fall onto soft ground.
>
>      If you're going to do something like this (the use  of temporary guys
> has its applications) and use rope, the best thing to do is to  use a
> 'trucker's hitch' which gives you a 2:1 mechanical advantage and provides
> much
> more tension on the rope to minimize any stretch or failure.
>
>      In the book, the author says he only uses steel  temporary guys now -
> lesson learned. But using a trucker's hitch will make using  rope guys
> viable
> and safe.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve      K7LXC
> TOWER TECH
>
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